Paved with Good IntentionsA public forum
With Dru Oja Jay, co-author of Paved with Good Intentions: Canada’s development NGOs from idealism to imperialism

Tuesday, October 2
7pm

David Strong C112
University of Victoria

“NGOs are as Canadian as hockey,” declared a 1988 Parliamentary report. Few institutions epitomize the foundational Canadian myth of international benevolence like the non-governmental organization devoted to development abroad.

Dru Oja Jay will discuss these organizations and their development projects. Just how “non-governmental” are organizations that get most of their funding from government agencies? What impact do these funding ties have on NGOs’ ability to support popular demands for democratic reforms and wealth redistribution? What happens when NGOs support a repressive regime? What happens when NGOs bite the hand that feeds them?